


picket fences and happy endings

by myla_r



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: Bandom - Freeform, FOB, M/M, Peterick, fall out boy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 09:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3524048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myla_r/pseuds/myla_r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peterick inspired by one-word prompts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. People

Pete noticed early on that people were superficial. 

They only notice when it's in their face. Love, Hate, Hurt. Everything. If it were upto people, Pete wouldn't have wanted to live to see his 36th birthday. But then he'd come to meet someone he wasn't even sure was real, so, how could he call him a person? Dressed in black shorts and an argyl sweater and clutching a ratty guitar. Looking at Pete apprehensively. 

Right now, shifting anxiously where he sat, Pete was certain he didn't feel 36. Was 36 even supposed to feel any different than 35? Didn't he have theis exact same battle with his mind every year? He knew he did. He also knew what settled it for him.

It was 5th June, 1 a.m and his phone buzzed next to him, as if triggered by his thoughts. He picked it up to see the face most familiar to him. Next to him in the backseats of crowded, rusty vans; flustered and vulnerable right before their first show; flashing hesitant smiles at the helm of the stage and in front of thousands screaming their names; cursing at him from above cushions in the morning and most of all, greeting him with familiarity and pursed lips those nights when Pete felt like he couldn't hold on and banged on the only door he was sure would open- waiting to be saved. 

It was like the entirety of his life flashed before him and he didn't see it as before-Fall Out Boy or with-FOB. Or any other demarcation, really. Except. His entire life's layout was just before-Patrick and with-Patrick. 20 years without and 15 with.

He smiled at his phone and swiped 'attend'.

“Happy Birthday, Buddy.” 

Patrick's warm, slightly muffled voice filled his ear and Pete sat back smiling wider. He suddenly knew why he didn't feel 36. Despite the thinning hair and new creases he'd find on his face every morning. That was because he felt 16.


	2. Ice-Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete thinks Patrick is like Vanilla Icecream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patrick being conscious about his body makes me sad and this is what I thought of.

“I think you're like ice-cream.” 

Pete was lying on the bed, with his head pillowed on his hands, watching Patrick watch himself in the mirror. 

He felt a jab of hurt as he saw Patrick pulling at his shirt anxiously and sucking in the slight tummy that was peeking from where he had tucked the shirt into his pants. It made Pete remember all those photoshoots and shows before the hiatus when he'd open Patrick's dressing room to find him frantically clutching shirts that no longer fit him and with his arms wrapped around his own bare torso. Fingers gripping the soft, pale flesh there, leaving behind angry red marks. Of hurt. And loathe for his own body.

The memory made Pete's chest feel heavy and he made an impatient noise, tapping his finger on the younger man's thigh in a bid to be heard.

“Hmm?” Patrick wasn't really paying attention to him, his hand was still making adjustments on his outfit- pressing down his shirt and frowning at his own self in the mirror.

“You're like vanilla ice-cream to me.” 

This time Patrick looked away from the mirror and down at him, his brows still creased and his eyes still mostly distant.

Pete raised his hand to hook his finger into one of his belt-loops and pulled him down. Patrick staggered on to the bed.

“I think you're like vanilla ice-cream someone was really looking forward to eating but then they got a little busy and they came back to find it slightly melting.”

“Should I even-” 

“Because you're sweet and slightly soft yet you don't give in all the way. And you look just as delicious as before, with slightly rounder edges and you're better and easier to eat but you still give me a headache if I have too much in one go.”

Pete shuffled to move his head into Patrick's lap, feeling soft flesh of his thighs giving way to welcome him and the brush of his crisp black shirt on the side of his face.

He looked up to see Patrick there. Finally, completely there. His eyes no longer had that faraway look. He was looking down at him with the strangest expression on his face- somehwere between incredulity and wistfulness and fondness. But he was no longer sucking in his belly, infact he could feel it rise and fall with Patrick's every breath. And his hands were no longer anxious but resting on his sides. And that made Pete feel better. Patrick was no longer hurting. _He_ was no longer hurting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the 'eating' references made me giggle but i thought this was nice..ish.


	3. lost hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete clicks Patrick's picture for his Instagram

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Instagram

Another acoustic performance. Patrick in a soft brown shirt that clung to every terrain of his flesh. Sitting next to him with his guitar. Singing in that voice that had made him sit up 15 years ago, only better. And surer. Without the dark beanie on his head. With the fedora.

Patrick fumbling with lyrics to their new song. Looking like an anxious 15 year old auditioning for a band again, for a few minutes, before mumbling a '..of your something else.' Which is greeted with flitters of laughter and a chorus of 'aww's. And then Patrick's back to the lead-singer role. But Pete isn't.

The fandom would remember. _'#peterickisreal'_ , would probably trend. The people in the audience would talk about it later. Pete whipping out his cellphone midway through a performance, recording an oblivious Patrick singing and putting it up on instagram for everyone to see, and read- 'this dude.'

He wasn't trying to make people talk. He was just capturing a moment for nostalgia. A moment that took him back to 15 years ago in Glenview, Chicago. A hesitant teenager singing for the first time and ending his song with a break in his voice and Pete's heart somewhere in his possession. Maybe in the pockets of those awful black shorts. Or in some fantastical place under his bangs peeking out from beneath his hat. But he strongly suspected it was somewhere around that mouth with the too-full lower lip which twisted into a slight smile at the instant beckons for him to join the band. Pete hadn't spoken back then for sometime, he'd been getting used to his heart not being his own.

And he never got it back. 

Now, of course, 15 years, 6 official albums, countless tours and a hiatus later, Pete realised he shouldn't have been worried. He was never truly away from Patrick, so he never actually gave away his heart. Giving away, for him, had different connotations- liking throwing something out into a void and never knowing what became of it. Anything he gave to Patrick- his secrets, his words, his heart- he never gave it 'away'. There was no void, but a presence that collected them all, like they were precious and important. His words always came back to him making more sense with Patrick's melodies accompanying them. His secrets were locked away in Patrick's mind and the only time they came to fore was when Pete saw their presence flashing in his eyes when he'd had done something stupid. 

No. He thought of it more like placing them in the hands of a worthier soul. Someone who'd know what to do with them and keep them safe. 

And now that he saw those familiar sea-hued eyes crinkle into a smile next to him, Pete thought that, everything considered, if his heart had to be someone else's, there was no better person than the one who had it, still. From 15 years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reference to the performance where Patrick forgot lyrics to 'Immortals' and Pete then did [this](http://favorterecord.tumblr.com/post/104643343406/pete-taking-a-picture-of-patrick-for-instagram)

**Author's Note:**

> I like writing about these two.


End file.
